‘It’s not fantasy storybooks’: The funds of identity approach in creating storybooks for deaf pupils

Abstract

As a Special Education Teacher, the lack of language learning materials for deaf pupils is a challenge. Storybooks are a crucial resource for helping pupils understand the world and connect it to their real-life experiences. The ‘funds of identity’ approach has been used across a range of research studies to create storybooks for deaf pupils. To further probe its potential, an action research study involving a ‘self-reflection’ cycle process was conducted in a primary school in Sabah, Malaysia involving eight deaf students. The qualitative and narrative findings of the study indicate that storybooks based on the funds of identity have increased pupils’ interest in reading and helped them connect the story with their reality. In short, these books are important in improving the reading skills of deaf pupils. Abstrak Sebagai Guru Pendidikan Khas, kekurangan bahan pembelajaran bahasa untuk murid-murid pekak masih menjadi cabaran. Buku cerita adalah penting untuk membantu murid memahami dunia dan mengaitkannya dengan pengalaman hidup sebenar. Maka, pendekatan ‘identiti dana’ telah diadaptasikan dalam membina buku cerita yang bersesuaian dengan keperluan murid pekak. Kajian Tindakan menggunakan proses kitaran ‘refleksi-kendiri’ telah dijalankan di sebuah sekolah rendah di Sabah, Malaysia melibatkan lapan orang murid pekak. Dapatan kajian kualitatif dan naratif menunjukkan bahawa buku cerita berasaskan identiti dana telah meningkatkan minat murid dalam membaca, membantu murid membuat perkaitan dengan cerita sekali gus menambah baik penguasaan kemahiran membaca mereka.